Currently, a large percentage of all hay, straw, and residual crop material is put up for storage in what are commonly referred to as large bales, having either a round or square shape. Eventually, these bales must be removed from storage, shredded, and then dispensed as livestock feed, bedding material, or landscape mulch. However, these large bales form a tough mass of material, and efforts to devise efficient methods and apparatus for shredding and dispensing the bales have met with limited success.
One problem with current apparatus is a tendency to shred or grind the baled material to too fine of a consistency, thereby limiting its usefulness for both feeding and mulching, and requiring an unnecessarily large amount of horsepower. Another problem with current apparatus is the inability to effectively adjust and control the dispensing rate of the shredded bale material and the consistency of the shredded bale material. Yet another problem with current apparatus is an inherently slow dispensing rate of the shredded bale material, due to the cutting method employed by the equipment. A further problem with current apparatus is the inability to compensate for variations in the consistency and toughness from one bale to another.
In particular, there is a lack of efficient and effective apparatus for dispensing a large bale for use as landscape mulch. The consistency of the shredded bale material and the dispensing rate of the shredded bale material are particularly important for landscape mulching. Dispensed bale material that is shredded to too fine or too heavy of a consistency has limited effectiveness as landscape mulch. It is desirable for the shredded bale material to consist essentially of separated, relatively long fibers which are capable of being partially embedded in the soil during follow-up disk operations. Additionally, the square footage of the area being mulched can vary greatly from job to job; thus, it is desirable to optimize the mulching operation by adjusting the dispensing rate of the shredded bale material to compensate for the size of the area being mulched. Both the consistency and the dispensing rate of the shredded bale material can be affected by the toughness and consistency of the particular bale being dispensed. It is desirable to compensate for variations in consistency and toughness from one bale to another so that the consistency and dispensing rate of the shredded bale material remain at optimum values.
There is a need for a new and effective method and apparatus for shredding and distributing large bales that is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems discussed above.